A service interface for remote service personal currently exists for enterprise-level tape controller products. This interface is invoked by a service person establishing a operative connection to the tape controller over a private network. Authentication of the service persons requires a verification that the service person is an authorized service person having an appropriate access level for remotely servicing a tape media controlled by the tape controller. Specifically, the authentication sequentially involves the service person obtaining an authentication key from the tape controller over the private network, the service person obtaining a system password corresponding to the authentication key from an access server over a public network, and the service person providing the system password to the tape controller over the private network to thereby gain desired access to a tape media. A challenge for the computer industry is to improve upon the user-convenience and process efficiency of the aforementioned authentication of a service person for remotely accessing a storage media over the private network as well as for any other person desiring remote access over a network to any type of device controlled by a server.